Employment (short Story)
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"Employment" is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
story by American writer
L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...
, pioneering the concept of
de-extinction De-extinction (also known as resurrection biology, or species revivalism) is the process of generating an organism that either resembles or is an Extinction, extinct organism. There are several ways to carry out the process of de-extinction. Cloni ...
. It was first published in the magazine ''
Astounding Science-Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...
'' for May, 1939.Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. ''De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography''. San Francisco, Underwood/Miller, 1983, page 155. The story appeared under the pseudonym Lyman R. Lyon (the name of his maternal great-grandfather) as the magazine's policy did not allow the name of any author to be repeated on the same contents page, and de Camp had another piece in the same issue under his actual name (part one of his article "Design for Life"). It first appeared in book form in the anthology '' Imagination Unlimited'' ( Farrar Straus and Young, 1952). It later appeared in the anthologies '' Men of Space and Time'' (The Bodley Head, 1953), and '' Science Fiction Inventions'' (
Lancer Books Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particula ...
, 1967), as well as the de Camp collection ''
The Best of L. Sprague de Camp ''The Best of L. Sprague de Camp'' is a collection of writings by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardback by Doubleday (publisher), Nelson Doubleday in February 1978 and in paperback by Ballant ...
'' (
Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...
, 1978). It was credited to de Camp's real name in all publications subsequent to its first appearance. The story has been translated into
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
.


Plot summary

The story is set in a then-future era of the late 1950s, and is presented in the form of a letter from the protagonist, geologist Kenneth Staples, to a prospective employer, explaining why he desires to leave his present job. Staples has been working for paleontologist/inventor Gilmore Platt, whose stereoscopic prospecting device can locate and reveal buried fossils in full detail. From an archeological colleague, Dr. Wilhelmi of Zurich, Platt gets the idea of using an electrolytic bath to restore the specimens he has been retrieving to their original condition, just as the archaeologist can do with corroded bronzes whose atoms have partly dissipated into the surrounding soil. After much experimentation, the two men succeed in restoring complete animals, hair and all, from fossil skeletons and the matrices of rock in which they are embedded. First they reconstruct an extinct Canis dirus (dire wolf), reviving it by applying an electric starter to its heart. They repeat the process with an
Arctotherium ''Arctotherium'' ("bear beast") is an extinct genus of the Pleistocene Tremarctinae, short-faced bears endemic to Central America, Central and South America. ''Arctotherium'' migrated from North America to South America during the Great American In ...
(short-faced bear), which they are unable to revive and is mounted in the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
, Stenomylus hitchcocki (an ancestral camel), Trilophodon (a primitive
proboscidea Proboscidea (; , ) is a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Three l ...
n), and Dinocyon gidleyi (a bear-dog). They hire Elias, a former circus performer, to manage their growing collection, which they house in a concrete barn with a row of cages down one side. Staples has a close shave, when the Dinocyon escapes its cage in an attempt to prey on the Stenomylus and sees him as an adequate substitute. Platt and Elias come to his rescue, the former with a gun and the latter with a stick of dynamite. It takes the dynamite to do it. Platt then calmly revivifies the bear dog again, but incarcerates it in a stronger cage. It's later sold to the
Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...
. It is replaced with a Dinohyus (a piglike animal the size of a buffalo). News of the sale attracts a Mr. Nively, representing the Marco Polo Company, a membership corporation consisting of the whole country's wild animal importers and dealers. His clients want to buy out Platt's discovery, as the resurrection of prehistoric creatures has the potential to ruin the market for present-day animals, which they control. After Platt rejects a number of offers Nively resorts to threats, and is kicked out. Meanwhile, Platt and Staples recreate their biggest animal yet, a specimen of Parelephas jeffersonii (Jeffersonian mammoth), which they name Tecumtha after the historical Shawnee chief. They also take on a new man, Jake, to assist Elias and help protect their menagerie against Nively. The precaution is well taken, but inadequate. Nively reappears early one morning and attempts to shoot Tecumtha. Enraged, the mammoth takes off after Nively, who tries to escape on Elias's bicycle. Staples, still in his pajamas, pursues both by truck. He eventually finds them in a nearby town square, with Nively perched atop an equestrian statue of General Sheridan while Tecumtha prowls about its base. When the mammoth pushes over the statue, Nively flees to a nearby tree. On Staples's advice, he then moves to the top of the truck cab to help lure Tecumtha up into the truck bed. With the animal secured, Staples extorts Nively's clothing from him and lets the villain go, only to get into a dispute with local police, who want to kill the creature as a dangerous wild animal. Rather than permit this, Staples drives off. After shaking pursuit he calls Platt, who tells him the police have their lab staked out against his return. Accordingly, Platt suggests he drive to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and sell Tecumtha to the
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...
there before returning. Unfortunately, Dr. Traphagen at the zoo assumes Staples a madman on hearing his story, particularly since he can't even confirm his own identity, the only identification he can produce being Nively's. Led away by the men in the white suits, he calls to Tecumtha, whose trumpeting finally convinces Traphagen of his veracity. The sale is completed, and Tecumtha is saved. Afterwards, Platt hires more guards and has his compound properly fenced. He begins to recreate more animals, including a Mastodon americanus for the
Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and the largest Metropolis, metropol ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. He hires another paleontologist as an additional assistant and with him starts happily digging dinosaurs in
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
. Staples learns the two have found a complete
Tyrannosaurus Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It live ...
skeleton, and in light of his experiences so far decides it's time to "clear out while I'm still in one piece."


Relation to other works

The plot feature of a disaffected businessman's designs on a recovered mammoth is echoed in de Camp's later Reginald Rivers time travel story "The Mislaid Mastodon" (1993).


Notes


External links

* {{L. Sprague de Camp Short stories by L. Sprague de Camp Short fiction about time travel 1939 short stories Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Prehistoric life in popular culture